Cat Nap
by GinnyBadWolf
Summary: Adrien Agreste is a mess. He's in love with Ladybug, he's not sleeping - it's all getting to be too much. He needs saving, but first, he needs something to be saved from. Releasing one chapter every three days.
1. Chapter 1

Adrien Agreste hadn't slept in four days.

Perhaps he had stolen winks, here and there, but it hardly changed anything. His grades were starting to slip, just the slightest bit, and his performance in photo shoots was becoming a little less quality. To anybody else, maybe this would be a sign that something needed to be done, but to his father, it was only an excuse to hit him with it harder.

"You're becoming lazy." His father had said, an unreadable emotion on his face. "I'll schedule another photo shoot for Thursday and piano lessons tomorrow. Go and study your Chinese." Adrien, lacking any energy to protest, had accepted his fate and trudged away.

It was even affecting his crime fighting as Chat Noir. His moves had become more sloppy and his witty one-liners had started to fade. Ladybug had begun to notice, but... she was the whole problem, so how could she solve it?

He was fretting so much over her, spending his nights in bed, clutching at his hair; looking out the window, his hand on the glass; climbing the Eiffel Tower as Chat Noir; imagining situations that would never, ever come true, because Ladybug would never love him and he was too much of a coward to ever do anything about it.

Tonight was one such night. Chat Noir stood, this time on the Arc de Triomphe, with his tail flapping in the wind and his head in his hands. The night was cool, clear, dark. Paris was lit up, lights dotted here and there on windows and in stores. There was the glowing pillar of the Eiffel Tower, stood in the middle of such a glorious city.

His tired eyes soaked in the sight, and he sat down before he felt he would fall over with exhaustion. His ring beeped with only two pads left, and some of the Miraculous energy fell away. Fatigue filled every corner of his body, weighing him down and making his vision gray and fuzzy. He raked a hand through his hair, looking around a bit more. It felt like his very bones and muscles were falling apart, dying. He crossed his arms over his chest protectively and shivered.

His ring beeped another time, and Chat decided that was enough. He made his way home, somehow - and found himself in his bed, unable to fall asleep. His mind was entirely occupied with her.

How she ran, jumped, glided, skipped, flew, fought, laughed, talked, hugged - everything was fascinating and beautiful. How her eyes sparkled when he occasionally made a good joke. How she cared about everybody, even if they were akumatized. How her hair shone in the moonlight, glinting silver and black.

How would he ever tell her how he felt? How would she react? Did she love him, at all? What would he do?

He stayed awake until the sun rose. In the morning, Plagg only sighed and nuzzled his neck. Adrien knew the kwami felt for him, and he pet the top of Plagg's head with his index finger. Plagg smiled, and refrained from making any snide remarks, choosing instead to give a small purr before ducking away.

When Plagg stopped purring, Adrien froze. He thought he heard scratching at the door, and then curled up as he eyed the door with fear. The scratching grew louder, and he covered his ears with his hands and tucked his head between his knees. He felt Plagg bat at his hands with his paws, and said, "Come on kid, let's - let's go." Adrien nodded, and got up unsteadily to go to the main hall.

When he reached the door, he prepared himself for whatever demon lay behind it. Cautiously, he reached for the doorknob and flung it open to see - nothing. Nobody. With a small sigh of relief, he continued on his way.

Adrien was driven to school, as always. As he stood up to get out of the car, he felt oncoming dizziness cloud his mind, and almost fell to the ground. He rubbed his forehead and steadied himself, sort of stumbling over to where Nino was talking with Alya.

"Hey," He said, and leaned on Nino's shoulder. It probably looked somewhat casual, but Adrien felt he needed Nino's support to stand. "W-what's going... on?" He yawned and stretched.

Alya looked worried. "Adrien, are you alright? You look like you haven't slept in a week and there are _major_ bags under your eyes." Nino turned to Adrien and nodded, worry shining in his eyes.

"Yeah, man, you okay?" Adrien nodded, but didn't find the energy to respond. He felt his eyes slip close for half a second, and then jerked back up to see Alya take a step closer and Nino holding his shoulder.

Alya's concern was more obvious now. "I don't think so, Adrien. You just fell asleep standing up!" Adrien shook his head to clear some cloudiness, but only succeeded in giving himself a headache. "You should go home."

Adrien stood up a little straighter, but regretted it immediately. "No, no, I'm... I'm okay." He flashed a weak grin at the two of them and basically dragged himself away, collapsing into his seat in class and putting his head on his elbows.

He found himself staring vacantly at the whiteboard, waiting for the others to come in. Their dull conversation was only a quiet buzz in the background. He looked towards the two people coming in, Alya and Marinette.

Adrien looked over Marinette, the emblem on her shirt standing out to him particularly. The flowers were black and pink, and pretty. He felt a bit of dull cheer, when, in front of his eyes, the flowers turned gray and withered.

He gave a yelp of surprise and leapt back in his seat, terror and confusion in his eyes. When he looked back at Marinette's shirt, the flowers looked as normal as they always did, but Marinette had an expression of concern on her face. "A-Adrien?" She asked, looking at him strangely.

"What?" He said unconvincingly casually, and reached up to scratch the back of his neck.

"Is there something, uh, wrong?"

"Oh, n-no! I just - uh, nevermind." Adrien looked back down at his desk. What had he seen - was it real, or was he just imagining things?

Marinette took a step closer. "What is it, Adrien?" Her words were more authoritative, collected, like the Marinette he saw when others were in danger.

Adrien kept his eyes trained downwards, instead focusing on his hands. He fiddled with his thumbs a little, and then replied. "It's nothing, Marinette." His eyes flicked up to meet hers for a moment, and then he turned to look at the door. Out of the corner of his eye he could see her frown sadly and trudge away. There was the sound of bags dropping behind him, and he knew she had sat down.

The first half of the day went by sluggishly, and Adrien fought hard to keep awake. When lunch break rolled around, Marinette and Alya tried to join him and Nino, but Adrien felt so disengaged from the conversation that he didn't think he uttered a single word the entire time. When the two girls walked away, Marinette's shoulders were sagging and Alya was rubbing her arm comfortingly. He probably hadn't been very nice ignoring them, but he had no energy to talk at all.

By the end of the day, he had an extreme headache, and felt like he was going to fall if he stood up. Shadows plagued the edges of his vision, and he was constantly trying to search for their source, but his efforts only proved to make his friends more concerned for him.

When the last bell finally rang, everyone got up and left except for Nino, who waited for him, and Marinette, who lingered by the door a little longer before walking out. He rubbed his face with his hand and tried to stand up, but then immediately fell back into his seat.

Nino frowned. "Dude, you are not okay. Don't come to school tomorrow." But despite his apparent state of upset-ness with Adrien, he slung an arm around his shoulders and helped him up, walking him to Adrien's car. When he got in, Nathalie didn't say a word.


	2. Chapter 2

Adrien felt himself sinking into a bad mood. As soon as he arrived home, he collapsed onto his bed and sighed. He could not go on like this - he needed to talk to Ladybug. All the stress she had inadvertently been giving him was definitely the reason for his newfound insomnia.

They did have a patrol tonight - it was every other night that they went around the city, talking and joking and rarely finding anything they needed to take care of. It was these times that Adrien cherished the most, because it was the time he could approach his lady the most easily.

The hours blurred together, consisting of Adrien falling asleep for a second and then waking up disoriented. Plagg popped in every now and then to talk to him, but replying felt like a chore, so he didn't do it at all.

Finally, the time for patrol came around, and Adrien called out the familiar words: "Plagg, claws out!" He punched his fist in the air tiredly, but as the transformation went on, he felt more and more invigorated. He savored the good feeling his transformation gave him, and leapt out the window.

Plagg had already told him about how the adrenaline was false, and as the Miraculous energy faded, so would his own. But Chat wasn't planning on using Cataclysm any time that night, so he figured it would last him a while before he gave out. Besides, if he was going to talk to Ladybug, his worries would be resolved and he could finally sleep.

Chat let out a whoop of joy, delighted about having a clear head and a solution to his problem. As he passed by a window box full of flowers, he plucked one pink rose, and flipped it between his fingers. It would like nice behind Ladybug's ear.

He landed with a roll upon the roof they always met on, and waited for Ladybug.

She arrived about three minutes later, a frown on her face. Deciding to skip the antics, Chat stood up and touched her arm lightly with his left hand, keeping the one with the rose hidden behind his back. "My Lady, what troubles you?" She looked up into his eyes, surprised at the caring in his voice.

"It's nothing, Chat." She pulled her elbow away from him, and walked over to the other side of the roof. "It's just a minor thing in my civilian life."

He padded a few feet towards her. "Tell me."

She was facing the Eiffel Tower, its glow shining and illuminating her silhouette. Her head turned to the side, so that she could glance at him out of the corner of her eye. "No."

He took one step closer. "Please, Ladybug. I want to help you."

She sighed, and her rigid figure sagged. "Okay." Ladybug turned to look at him. "I... I have a crush on this guy, but when I tried to talk to him today, he just... shut me down." Chat felt his ears and tail droop, and the hand that was so delicately holding the pink rose clenched a little. So... she had somebody else. Not him.

He put some false joviality into his words, a fake grin plastering his face. "Well, the guy must be an idiot to reject you." She looked down, and mumbled a small 'yeah'. He took one step closer, and decided to do it anyway. He held the pink rose out in front of his chest, and gave a formal bow while gracefully handing the rose to her. "I don't know who _could_ reject somebody as beautiful as you. My Lady, I hope you take this as a token of my admiration."

Ladybug took the rose hesitantly, but something akin to disbelief shone in her eyes. "Look, Chat... not tonight. I've put up with your flirting for our whole friendship, but I'm actually upset now! Could you be serious, just for once?!" Desperation laced her words, and she let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding.

Chat's lips parted slightly, and this time his ears really drooped. He folded in on himself a little, the hurt evident. "I apologize, Ladybug. I'll... I'll stop now."

Ladybug obviously realized Chat was cut up, because the anger that she had been feeling fell away. "Oh, Chat, I'm sorry... I didn't mean that." When he only turned away from her, she sighed and looked down. "I'll leave. I'm sorry, Chat. I'll see you Wednesday." He heard the sound of her yo-yo, and when Chat turned back, Ladybug was gone with only the rose left in her place.

Chat walked over to the rose and picked it up, tears pricking at the sight. He had thought... he had thought that perhaps he meant something to her. He had thought that maybe he was more than a friend, and had thought that she knew how he felt. But all she was - was _tired_ of him, and his unwelcome advances. That much was made obvious.

He fell to his knees and let out a small sob. It was too much - five days and five nights without sleep, the rejection of the one he loved the most. His misery was all symbolized by this agonizingly beautiful pink rose clutched tightly in his hand.

Then, a small dark butterfly landed on the rose, and it turned to a violent shade of black.

He looked up, his cheeks flushing and anger rising in his heart.


	3. Chapter 3

" **Hello, Cat Nap,"** A voice said. " **My name is Hawkmoth. I have granted you your powers - you can use your powers to grant the wonderful gift of sleep to all those around you, and Ladybug can receive such a present, too - rest. Perhaps she is stressed as well. If you let her sleep, and take her Miraculous and bring it to me, she can finally rest and I shall let you sleep as well. Go, Cat Nap, and lay the busy minds of Paris and its savior to rest."**

Cat Nap nodded, a smirk on his face. Dark bubbles formed around him, changing his black outfit to one of bright white. The rose in his hand went tucked behind his ear, and his staff went from silver to a column of glowing white light.

"Well, Paris, you're going to be well rested tonight!" Cat Nap went from his kneeling position into running, using his glowing staff to launch himself into the air. As he flew, a trail of hazy white light followed his staff, falling into houses and through windows. Those people still on the street were soon covered in the light, and as it faded from their skin they slumped to the ground in slumber.

Cat Nap let out a laugh and leapt all over the city, savoring his newfound energy. All these people - how thankful they must have been, to sleep!

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a speck of red, and headed towards the Eiffel Tower. He would beat Ladybug to the tower, and let out a wave of power to lull all of Paris to sleep.

Cat Nap climbed up the tower nimbly, reaching the top and looking down upon the dark city. The lights were dimmed, just a little, and it made him glad to know that people were all resting and sleeping soundly because of him. Why, they'd never even have to wake up! They'd never have to be tired, like Adrien had been.

Below him, he could see Ladybug climbing the tower. His ears perked, and he could distantly hear Ladybug talking into her yo-yo. "Chat Noir, where are you? Somebody's been akumatized, and they're putting the whole city to sleep! Meet me at the Eiffel Tower." Cat Nap let out a wicked laugh and leapt up onto the topmost spire, perching himself nimbly.

Ladybug finally made it on to the railing of the top, and looked side to side before finally catching sight of him. "Who are you, and why are you doing this?"

Cat Nap flipped his staff in between his claws, and replied with fake offense. "Why, I'm so very disappointed. Does 'My Lady' not recognize me?" He raised a hand to his chest, and then smirked and stood up straight. Ladybug gasped.

"Chat Noir?" Her voice was delicate and hesitating.

He leaned forward, his brow furrowed and a frown on his face. His words were hostile. "My name is _Cat Nap_ , not Chat Noir. Call me by my proper name, will you?!" Her eyes flashed with hurt, and satisfaction rose in his chest. A taste of her own medicine. He jumped down from the spire and landed a couple feet away from her.

The hurt in her eyes changed to determination, and Cat Nap frowned. "Chat, stop! What I said, I really didn't mean it. Please, forgive me, and - and forgive yourself, too." Cat Nap scoffed bitterly.

"What do I have to be sorry for? What does _he_ have to be sorry for? For God's sake, Chat Noir was everything you could have wanted! He stood by your side, willing to let others call him the sidekick! He stayed, letting you soak up all the attention! You wanna know why? Because if he stayed, he could be with you! You were all he ever wanted. And you never even gave a damn." He turned away, disgust in his eyes. "Chat deserves some rest. You kept him awake five nights straight, because he was fretting over how he was going to tell you he 'loved you'. How pathetic that seems now, with how quickly you shot him down."

Ladybug was shell-shocked. "W-what? Chat l-loves me?"

Cat narrowed his eyes. "What does it matter to you? It's obvious you never cared for him."

She shook her head. "No, I do and always have! I care for you a lot, Chat, and without you, I would never be Ladybug. We're a team."

Cat felt his resolve falter slightly, but Hawkmoth's loud voice echoed in his head. " **Do not let her fool you with her false words! Put her to sleep and take her Miraculous, or I won't ever let you rest!"**

Cat tried to argue. "But I -" But suddenly, the butterfly around his eyes burned white hot, and he grabbed at his head with a cry of anguish. "Make it stop, make it stop!" The pain vanished, but in its place, a pounding headache had formed.

Ladybug looked deeply disturbed. "Chat Noir!" She sprung towards him, reaching out an arm, but he had already pulled out his staff and used it to sweep her off her feet. She fell to the ground with a shout. He put a foot on her stomach to pin her and held his staff to her face, prepared to lull her to sleep. Before he could, she pulled out her yo-yo and grabbed his arm, yanking him to the ground and jumping up to have him at her mercy instead - a complete role reversal.

His head gave a dull throb as he hit the ground, but he smirked through his pain and raised his staff, waving it dangerously close to her face. With a growl of frustration, Ladybug ducked away, forced to retreat to maintain her consciousness. Cat Nap jumped to his feet, getting into battle stance and glaring at Ladybug with shuttered eyes. He gave a satisfied hum, and rushed her.

He hit her from one side, and then hit her from the other, and then kicked her from the other. She gasped for breath and stumbled away, and he smiled at her pain. Then she turned back, a determined glint in her eye, and used her yo-yo to yank the staff from his grip. Cat Nap growled, and leapt forward to land on top of her and snatched it back from her.

He cocked his head. "Well, Ladybug, you're not so miraculous, are you? Look how quickly your old partner defeated you." He waved the staff over her face, and the dust began to fall, but she rolled out of the way and hastily delivered a punch to his stomach.

Cat Nap paid no mind to the punch, instead choosing to use the backwards momentum to flip backwards and land on all fours, his staff held behind him. Ladybug rushed to attack him once more, but he turned and ran up the spire of the Tower, perching at the top. He stood up steadily, and held his staff out in front of him with both hands. "Deep Sleep!" He raised the staff above his head, and a large radius of hazy white dust flew out in all directions over the city.

He saw Ladybug take her yo-yo and whirl it above her head, kneeling down. The dust hit the yo-yo, but then was flung to all sides and not a speck touched her. When the waves of dust finally stopped emanating from Cat's staff, she stood up and looked him in the eye.

Cat, after the sudden extreme use of power, felt himself sway in the slightest. The exhaustion he had felt from earlier slowly flooded back, and his headache worsened tenfold. Dropping his staff, he pressed his hands to his temples and hissed with pain. The loud sound of his staff clattering to the ground on the platform below gave him a sharp spike of pain.

Ladybug reached for her yo-yo and grabbed it, flinging it at him and catching him by the ankle. Cat felt his world lurch as he was suddenly dragged several feet down, and as he hit the ground he let out a cry.

He struggled to get to his knees, but it cost him too much energy, so he collapsed back to the ground again with another hiss. Ladybug padded closer, and the loathing he felt invigorated him to scramble back. "Stay away," He growled.

"Chat?" She asked hesitantly, and he finally dragged himself to his knees and slowly stood up. He held out his hand, and the glowing staff summoned itself to him. He shook his head at Ladybug ever so slightly, and prepared to put her to sleep.

All was quiet, and then she sent him flying backwards with a simple kick on the chest.

Cat Nap flew over the railing, his staff flying out of his hands. He scrambled to grab a beam, but his efforts were fruitless. He yelled in surprise, and reached up a hand desperately though he couldn't hold on to anything.

Ladybug's face peered over the railing, and she gave a cry of anguish as she saw him plummet. She extended a hand downwards, as if she could keep him from falling. Then, she disappeared from sight altogether.

Despair filled every fiber of Cat Nap's being, and he watched miserably as the ground got ever closer.

He landed - with no idea if he was alive or dead, because soon after, the world went dark.


	4. Chapter 4

Chat Noir's eyes snapped open, and he drew in a shuddering breath. Aching, burning, stinging, throbbing, pounding pain laced through his body, and he let out a small moan and pressed his hands to his temples.

It was just then he felt warm arms wrapped around his torso, and the small sobs of a girl.

Ladybug.

"My - My lady?" He rasped, his voice hoarse and quiet.

She looked up, tear streaks streaming down her face. "Chat?" Her voice was hesitant, disbelieving.

"I think so." He responded.

She moved slowly, unwrapping herself from his waist and moving closer to his head, cupping his face with her hands. "You're alive?"

He nodded, and put a hand on hers. He didn't know what had happened, but it didn't seem to be good.

Ladybug let out another small, choked sob. She bit her lip. "I thought - I thought you were g-gone."

He lifted the hand that was on hers to brush away a tear on her cheek. To his surprise, she leaned into his touch. Something _really_ bad must have gone on before. "What happened?"

She looked to the side, over to a pink rose that was lying feet away from where they sat. "You got a-akumatized. And, I h-had to fight you. And while you were C-Cat Nap, you told me that you hadn't s-slept in five days because you w-wanted to tell me how you l-loved me..." Her voice shook.

Chat Noir blushed a violent shade of red and he withdrew his hand from her face. So... she knew. He looked at the ground, and wrapped his arms around himself carefully, flinching when he touched an especially sensitive area on his ribs. Ladybug gave another sob, and dragged his hands away. "No, d-don't move. You'll hurt yourself even m-more."

He didn't make any attempts to move, but kept his eyes trained on the ground. "S-So we kept fighting, and you used a move that made all of P-Paris fall asleep, but you got r-really tired. And I accidentally h-hit you off of the T-Tower, and you f-fell off. I think y-you landed on your f-feet, or m-maybe your suit p-protected you, because you l-looked okay, but then I-I jumped down and when I got there, you were... dead!" She burst into tears again, and gently wrapped her arms around his neck.

Chat froze, and then he slowly sat up. His eyes were wide and his mouth had fallen open. "I was... dead?"

She nodded. "I gave you CPR, which I learned from a b-babysitting course, but you wouldn't wake up... you didn't have a pulse and you weren't b-breathing. I cleansed the a-akuma, and used Miraculous Ladybug, and everybody else woke up, but you d-didn't. I thought you were gone forever!" She burst into another round of tears, but continued. "You w-woke up about t-two minutes later." She let out another sob and didn't speak again. Chat felt as if he was shocked to his core.

Ladybug cared enough that she tried to revive him, even before he was cleansed. She was sobbing, now, because he had been... dead.

It was so strange to think about himself in that way - dead. Not alive, not breathing, not loving Ladybug.

Chat Noir brushed away a lock of hair that had fallen in her face. "H-Hey, it's okay, now." He murmured quietly. "I'm fine."

This seemed to only make her more upset. "No, it's not okay! It's not fine! You were dead, because of me! You didn't sleep for five days, because of me! It's all my fault!" She buried her head under his neck and clutched him a little tighter. It hurt (a lot) but he didn't mind, because Ladybug was hugging him.

"No, it's not your fault. It's my fault. I was being... well, dumb. You don't care about me, not like I care about you, and I should have accepted that." Chat turned away, wincing when his shoulder and his head both throbbed.

Ladybug was silent. "Do you - do you really think I don't care about you?"

Chat made a grimace at his slip up. Now Ladybug was going to pity him and his low self esteem. With a sigh, he shook his head, and then hissed at the pain.

Ladybug gently took his hands away, and massages his temples lightly. It felt really, _really_ nice - it soothed his headache surprisingly effectively. He let out a small purr, and his ears twitched. Ladybug giggled, and he blushed again.

Her voice was still watery. "Look, Chat. I cared about you a lot before, but almost l-losing you made me realize something." She put a hand on the bottom of his chin and lifted his face up so he could look her in the eye. "I need you. I never realized just how much you mattered to me until you were already gone. And I never told you anything I _did_ realize."

Chat 's eyes were wide. She continued. "You need to know how much I care about you." And then she pressed her lips to his, gently, and pulled away after just a moment.

Chat closed his eyes and drew in a breath.

Ladybug had kissed him.

He entwined his fingers with hers, and she moved closer to lace her fingers through his hair. He kissed her, this time, and she smiled on his lips. Everything felt... right. His chest buzzed with satisfaction, and he had to fight hard not to purr again.

After a moment, Chat pulled away to get some air. Ladybug seemed concerned again. "Are you okay, Chat?" He shook his head, and laid back down. "Oh, I forgot you didn't - you didn't sleep! I'm so sorry!" He was about to protest, but she shushed him. "Go home, feed your kwami, and meet me back here, okay?"

Chat nodded, and she helped him to his feet. He slowly limped away, pain flooding his body but not caring at all. Ladybug had kissed him, and she wanted to _stay_ with him. She cared.

Once he reached the Agreste estate, he hid behind a pillar and transformed back into Adrien. Plagg leapt out of his coat pocket at once and nuzzled into his neck, glad not to be akumatized. Adrien chuckled and picked up Plagg, holding him and smiling. Then, Plagg said: "Would you happen to have any, uh, camembert?" Adrien sighed and trudged inside, fetching the camembert for his kwami.

He had trouble not drifting off while he stood, but Plagg did his best to finish his camembert quickly and he transformed back into Chat Noir. Adrien sighed, feeling better, and went back to the Eiffel Tower. As soon as he arrived, he leaned himself against the base and waited for his lady.

She didn't keep him waiting for long. Ladybug arrived just a moment or two after, laden with blankets and pillows. He arched an eyebrow at her skeptically, but she didn't say a word.

Instead of sitting down next to him, she grabbed his hand and took out her yo-yo. She dumped a pillow in his other free hand and then shot them, and Chat smiled as he went flying. She brought them to the top of the tower, and then laid down her pillow and the blanket. He put his pillow down next to hers, and then looked to her for reference. "So... what's this?"

She put her hand on he hip. "You, you dumb cat, are going to lay here until you fall asleep. I won't let you go another night without it, all because of me, so I'll be the one to help you." Chat smiled, and yawned, and leaned back.

There was a comfortable silence as Ladybug looked up at the night sky. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" Chat nodded in agreement, but it wasn't the stars he was looking at.

Taking the initiative, he wrapped his arms around her waist and buried his head underneath her neck. Ladybug gasped quietly, but then put her hand in his hair and made a small, content hum.

It was the best night of sleep either of them had ever had.


End file.
